Detroit Casino Syndicator in default on property linked to future casino development

Herb Strather

Detroit Casino syndicator Herb Strather says the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts owes him $25 million.

Strather, who has been a controversial character in Detroit for decades, says he bankrolled the tribe’s federal recognition effort.  Now he wants a payout from any gaming facility the tribe opens.  After all, that is why he organized a syndicate to bankroll the federal recognition campaign.

Among other things, Strather claims that the tribe has reneged on a handshake deal to make mortgage payments for Maushop Farm, a horse stable in Mashpee (MA). Strather affiliate Maushop LLC purchased the property in 2001 with a $682,500 Bank of America mortgage. Strather says he planned to donate Maushop Farms to the Wampanoag once a casino was built. Now, Strather tells the Cap Cod Times he is in default on the mortgage. 

Maushop Farms is located at 218 Sampsons Mill Road, Mashpee, MA 02649.

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NOTE: To see the deed and recorded mortgage document signed by Maushop Manager Frederick C. Grosser visit https://72.8.52.132/ALIS/WW400R.PGM.  In Public Access (box pg left) click “Free Access.”  Then “Click here to Search Public Records.”  Then click “Recorded Land by Name.” In the Last/Corp name box type Maushop LLC. Scroll down and click “Search.”  Your search results should include the Deed, Mortgage Instrument and several liens.

See CapeCodToday.com: 

• The tangled tale of the Wampanoag farm which isn't a Wampanoag farm & Wampagate
• Casino investor Strather has criminal past

See also:

• Not so favorable report of casino syndicators Strather, Varner, Malik, Slavik et al
• Three-fourths of AtMashpee LLC investors were behind entity that morphed into MotorCity Casino
• Detroiters Strather, Deitch provided $4 million fund that enabled wrongdoing by ex-tribal chairman
• UPDATED: Formerly rejected MotorCity Casino backers Malik & Strather have taken similar paths to Long Island & Cape Cod
• Mike Malik's partners also had a history of tax dodging; court ordered real estate negligence claims; and 40+ foreclosures
• Detroit-based casino developer convicted of bribing a police officer among Gov. Deval Patrick's donors

Former Ilitch Casino Partner wants Gov. Deval Patrick to help him collect debt from Mashpee Tribe

Investor calls Wampanoag on debt
9.29.2011

By George Brennan

Herb Strather, the Detriot developer who first invested in the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe's casino efforts in 1999, is calling on the governor to help him recoup the millions he says he spent on the tribe.

In a letter to Gov. Deval Patrick, Strather says he raised in excess of $25 million from a wide variety of investors to help the tribe gain federal recognition and pursue a casino.

He also claims that the tribe has reneged on a handshake deal to make mortgage payments for Maushop Farm, a horse stable in Mashpee he purchased for $675,000 and planned to donate to the Wampanoag once a casino was built. He produced an email from a Bank of America employee stating the mortgage is in default because of slow payments. That bank employee declined to comment Wednesday.

"We are seeking a fairness inclusion in the gaming bill that will make the tribe pay their debts before they can get a compact," Strather wrote to the governor.

A compact is a deal between a tribe and a state that sets the ground rules for how an Indian casino will operate and what payments the state would receive in lieu of taxes.

Strather's letter asks the governor to...

Much of Strather's negotiations, both for the casino and the farm, were with former tribal council Chairman Glenn Marshall. Marshall is serving a federal prison sentence after he pleaded guilty to taking some of Strather's cash and using it to make illegal campaign contributions and keeping it as a personal slush fund.

Marshall was forced to resign in 2007 after the Times reported he was a convicted rapist and that he had lied about his military record.

Still, Strather is harsher in his criticism of current tribal council Chairman Cedric Cromwell than he is of Marshall...

Most of Strather's comments about Cromwell can't be printed... (Read Full Story)

Also see:

• Massachusetts as Debt Collector for Herb Strather @ Middleboro Remembers

• Attorney Dennis Whittlesey up to his Old Tricks
• D.C. Lobbyists Paid $2.33 Million to Advance Shinnecock Casinos
• Herb Strather Defaults on Detroit's St. Regis Hotel Project
• Attorney Dennis Whittlesey up to his Old Tricks
• UPDATED: Formerly rejected MotorCity Casino backers Malik & Strather have taken similar paths to Long Island & Cape Cod
• Controversy seems to always follow Detroit Casino Syndicator Michael Malik
• Mike Malik's partners also had a history of tax dodging; court ordered real estate negligence claims; and 40+ foreclosures

Reporter suggests politico was architect of tribal chairman's illegal campaign contribution scheme

A Cape Cod Times story by reporter George Brennan indicates court documents released in December 2008 as part of a fraud case brought by the U.S. Department of Justice against former Mashpee Wampanoag tribal chairman Glenn Marshall, indicate that political consultant Stephen J. Graham, so-called "Political Consultant A," is the person who orchestrated $60,000 in illegal federal campaign contributions that are the center of the federal case against Marshall.

Marshall, who has plead guilty to all charges, funneled $4 million he got from his development partner Herb Strather into the Mashpee Fisherman's Association Inc. which Marshall used as a slush fund to hire Jack Abramoff, make the illegal campaign contributions and pay some of his own personal expenses.

Initially, Marshall attempted to use tribal council money to fund the political contributions suggested by Graham, but Marshall was told that was illegal. When Marshall told Graham he didn't know anyone with the kind of money needed to make political donations, Graham allegedly told him how to make them using so-called straw contributors — making donations in their names and then paying those individuals back. Donations were made to Members of Congress and others in the name of Marshall, his family members, and other tribal council officers.

Marshall's attorney Larry Craven has said he thinks even the government doesn't believe the campaign contribution scheme was Marshall's idea. Craven says Marshall's not the architect of the scheme but rather was instructed by reference.

Graham has not been charged in the matter and is still being paid by the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe as a consultant. In 2008, he earned $182,000, according to tribe records.

The federal case against Marshall is one of the several branches of a far-reaching Washington D.C. scandal centered around disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Document: Charges against Glenn Marshall
Document: Glenn Marshall's plea agreement

Plea hearing in former Tribal Chair's fraud case postponed for three weeks

1.21.09

Hearing delayed for ex-Mashpee Wampanoag leader

BOSTON (AP) - A plea hearing in federal court has been delayed for the former chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe who is accused of fraud and embezzlement.

Glenn Marshall appeared before U.S. District Judge Rya Zobel on Wednesday, but his new attorney Paul Markham was given three weeks to review the case. Markham said Marshall asked him to take the case Tuesday night.

A new plea hearing is set for Feb. 11.

Marshall agreed in December to plead guilty to violating campaign finance laws while working with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. He faces 41 to 51 months in prison.

Marshall stepped down as tribal chairman in 2007, after it became public that he was a convicted rapist and had lied about his military past.

DOJ Announces Charges Against former Mashpee Wampanoag Chair

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, December 15, 2008

WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/MA
CONTACT: CHRISTINA DiIORIO-STERLING

PHONE: (617)748-3356

E-MAIL: USAMA.MEDIA@USDOJ.GOV

FORMER TRIBAL CHAIRMAN CHARGED WITH CAMPAIGN FINANCE VIOLATIONS AND FRAUD

BOSTON, MA - The former chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe was charged today in U.S. District Court with violations of campaign finance law, along with tax, wire fraud and Social Security fraud, in connection with efforts to secure federal recognition for the Tribe. (See: Original DOJ Press Release)

When reporter interviewed Herb Strather he failed to do the math

In February 2005, Robert Ankeny wrote in Crain's Detroit:

When MotorCity was being organized in the days before the city's Detroit casinos were authorized, Strather said, 112 Detroit area people each bought one or more $25,000 units in the company that eventually founded the casino.

"Many put in $100,000, four units," he said, making their holdings worth about $1.7 million today.

Strather said this investment growth in MotorCity doesn't include the $38.5 million that he and three other initial investors - Nellie Varner, Ron Slavik and James Blain - received when they sold their shares to Ilitch and to Mandalay, operating partner for MotorCity.

These four, along with former New Detroit President Paul Hubbard, funeral director O'Neill Swanson, and Barbara Callaway, who was Strather's grade-school teacher, were the original investors in 1994 when the city of Detroit voted approval for three casinos, Strather said.

Then, in March 2005, Robert Ankeny of Crain’s Detroit wrote:

Strather, who in the early 1990s organized the group that became Atwater Entertainment Associates L.L.C., said he, Karmanos and about two dozen of the 108 partners who own fractional shares of MotorCity also have offered to buy out and restructure that 11.5 percent of MotorCity for $118 million. Strather withdrew from the casino licensing process in 1999 before MotorCity opened, he said, in part because overdue taxes on some of his past development projects might have hindered approval from the Michigan Gaming Control Board.

But just a few months later, in October 2005, Robert Ankeny wrote:

Detroit-based Atmashpee L.L.C. scored a victory in a decades-old battle to win federal recognition for the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe in Massachusetts, said Herb Strather, Detroit developer and organizer of the company…

Atmashpee (the name is a blend of Mashpee and Strather’s Atwater Associates, organizers of what became MotorCity Casino L.L.C.) includes $12 million invested by more than 200 people. About 150 of them are former Atwater partners, he said

How is it that Ankeny could write in February & March that Strather's Atwater Entertainment Associates was a group of 108 - 112 partners and yet in October he reports 150 former Atwater partners represented 3/4s of the 200 investors in Strather’s AtMashpee casino syndication?

Was Ankeny enabling Strather to spread falsehoods and mistruths to some benefit?

Were Strather's inconsistencies meant to attract new investors or give some comfort to existing investors?

Were these representations designed to make others like Len Wolman, Sol Kerzner and brothers Richard & Stephan Slavik think there was more to AtMashpee LLC than there really was? Or were there some never-revealed "silent" partners behind Atwater Entertainment Associates that perhaps included Wolman, Kerzner and/or the Slavik brothers?

As noted in the first Ankeny reference above, the Slaviks' cousin, J. Ronald Slavik, was known as an "investor" in Atwater Associates.

See "Investors" List: Atwater Entertainment Associates LLC

Strather partnered with Slaviks on affordable housing development in 2001

A Crain's Detroit Business story published 10.21.01 about the development by Scripps Park LLC of a new affordable housing project reported:

Scripps Park is turning the Jeffries West housing project into 347 privately-owned houses and rental units. The group is made up of of businessman Herb Strather; The Slavik Co., based in Farmington Hills; Rosenberg Housing Group, based in New York City; Premier Property Management, based in Fenton; and local nonprofit Core City Non-Profit Housing Corp.

Scripps Park was supported by attorneys at Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn L.L.P.

Brothers Richard (now deceased) and Stephan Slavik, along with Len Wolman, chair of Connecticut-based Waterford Group, and South African Sol Kerzner, chair of Kerzner International, were members in Trading Cove Associates which bankrolled development of the Mohegan Sun casino resort in Connecticut. Then in 2006, Strather announced he'd handed over controlling interest in a proposed Mashpee Wampanoag casino on Cape Cod to the same group of investors.

J. Ronald Slavik, cousin of Richard and Stephan Slavik, was one of the so-called "investors" in Atwater Entertainment Associates LLC, another casino-related syndication that Strather organized in the mid 1990s to jump-start MotorCity Casino.

Reporter: Kerzner & Wolman have money troubles, Strather seeks new investors for Cape Cod Casino scheme

Taken from a story by Stephanie Vosk published on 1.05.09 in the Cape Cod Times:

Tribe's longtime investor seeks new blood

...For years, Herb Strather and his investors bankrolled the tribe's quest for federal recognition from the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, upping the ante to $40,000 a month, and later $100,000, according to court documents.

But the process, officially ongoing since the 1970s, still took a lot longer than anticipated. In December 2006, about 10 months after the tribe received a preliminary thumbs up on its federal recognition application, the man from Detroit officially handed over the vast majority of his stake in a proposed casino to a company called Trading Cove, headed up by South African casino developers Sol Kerzner and Len Wolman.

Five years ago, Strather said, he may have been able to maintain about 20 percent of the project. Today, he controls a little more than 5 percent.

MONEY TROUBLES
The financial problems of Kerzner and Wolman, who are the "operators and the funders" of the project, have been well publicized. The credit rating for their Rhode Island "racino," Twin River, has been downgraded by at least two companies, and Moody's Investor Service cited a high probability the company will seek bankruptcy protection.

Strather's not in trouble as far as the Mashpee project is concerned — he doesn't have those kind of debt obligations for the casino, he said.

It's his other various projects that are suffering from the current economic recession. "We have other businesses, real estate businesses, and yes that business is tough," he said.

But many of his original investors — including O.J. Simpson's attorney Johnnie Cochran and his kindergarten teacher — have died since his business with the tribe began, and new blood — and money — are welcome, he said.

"Many of these people who came in are gone. I've had at least a dozen investors die," he said. "They helped make a dream come true, and their legacy will live on, although they are not alive now to reap the benefits of it."

BUYING IN
Strather is likely looking for investors who can not only help financially, but have political influence at the local level, experts say... (See Original Story)

Contact Stephanie Vosk at svosk@capecodonline.com

Waterford Group affiliate placed a lien against AtMashpee LLC

A Secured Party, KSW MASS, LLC c/o Waterford Group Investments LLC, P.O. Box 715 Waterford, CT 06385-0715 filed a Michigan UCC Lien (Filing No. 2008101916-9) against a Debtor, AtMashpee, LLC, on 6.26.08.

The UCC Lien is described as “Security Interest and Proceeds.”

* * *

A limited liability company known as KSW MASS, L.L.C. was organized in Delaware on 11.29.06.

Is it possible that "KSW" stands for Kerzner, Slavik, and Wolman? Those parties are reportedly now in control of any future Mashpee Wampanoag casino resort on Cape Cod, MASS. (EnterpriseNews.com: Meet the Money Men).

Those parties were also part of the Trading Cove Partners that financed and developed the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.

Sol Kerzner is Chairman and CEO of Kerzner International

Slavik Suites, Inc. was formed by Michigan-based brothers Richard Slavik (deceased 3.11.08) and Stephan Slavik (Slavik Builders, Inc.).

LMW Investments, Inc. is a Connecticut-based enterprise formed by brothers Len Wolman and Mark Wolman. The Wolmans are officers and directors of Slavik Suites.

Slavik and LMW are the members of Waterford Group LLC. Len Wolman is Chairman of Waterford. Waterford partnered with Kerzner to form Trading Cove Partners.

Waterford Gaming LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Waterford Group LLC. A 10-K filed with the SEC by Waterford Gaming LLC provides more details into the relationship complexities of the businesses owned by the Wolmans and the Slavik family.

AtMashpee LLC, the "debtor" subject to the KSW MASS UCC Lien was organized by Detroit casino syndicator and real estate developer Herbert Strather.

Kerzner and Wolman (and by some accounts Slavik) took control of the Mashpee Wampanoag casino project from Strather once the tribe received Federal Recognition. Strather is reported to have bankrolled that tribe's efforts up to that point to the tune of $15 million. If what's been represented were true, wouldn't Kerzner, Slavik, Wolman by buying-out AtMashpee rather than placing a lien against the enterprise? Or did those parties also finance AtMashpee? Was Strather fronting for KSW all along?

And further do AtMashpee's investors know about the KSW MASS/Waterford Group UCC lien? In the wake of the wide-reaching Bernard Madoff ponzi scheme should AtMashpee "investors" be looking more closely at their circumstances?

Not so favorable report of casino syndicators Strather, Varner, Malik, Slavik et al

Excerpts from a 4.26.99 article published in the Las Vegas Sun:

Circus Detroit partners under scrutiny

DETROIT -- As state investigators probe the suitability of those seeking to run casinos here, a newspaper says some investors in the Atwater/Circus Circus group have troubled histories...

The Detroit News reported Sunday on its review of public records on the local investors.

It said companies owned by local investor group leaders Herb Strather and Nellie Varner of Detroit have paid taxes late, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development cited a real estate company they own for several violations.

A bad real estate deal in 1986 led to the foreclosure of nearly 40 properties. This month, HUD issued five violations against a Detroit apartment building they own; courts have awarded their tenants about $750,000 in negligence claims...

Investor Michael Malik of Grosse Pointe was arrested in 1997 and accused of hitting his girlfriend's 12-year-old son, the newspaper said. The child is now Malik's stepson, but the boy's biological father is seeking custody. The charge was dropped after Malik served one year of probation and met conditions set by the judge...

Strather, Varner, Malik and Thomas Celani, along with minor investors James Blain and J. Ronald Slavik, are accused in lawsuits of fraudulently cutting two other developers out of the Atwater Group, the News said. They deny the allegations, which are pending in courts in Wayne and Oakland counties.

Also, Varner's adopted daughter, Janniss Scott Varner, is accused of attempted murder in an alleged shooting in Nellie Varner's garage... (See: Original Article)

List of Michigan donors to Alaskan's Midnight Sun PAC is rather Dis-Honorable

The list of donors from Michign who have ever given money to the Midnight Sun PAC, Rep. Don Young's so-called leadership PAC, is rather short as one might expect given Young hails from Alaska. Just five donors. But those five donors, some bordering on infamous, made seven contributions totaling $23,500.

Further, a review of the short-list reveals a rather "Dis-Honorable Roll" of donors.
Ironically, book-ending this list are Detroiters Herbert J. Strather and Michael J. Malk, Sr.; one time partners, who respectively made the first and last contributions Midnight Sun PAC has ever received from Michigan donors. And sandwiched in the middle is Daniel J. Aronoff.

Malik and Strather were behind the legalization of commercial gambling in Detroit and were considered founders of Detroit's MotorCity Casino. However, the pair were among a handful of "investors" who were disqualified from receiving gaming licenses by the Michigan Gambling Control Board (MGCB) and as such had to dump their interests in the casino before it could open its doors. Among various considerations, Malik had recently been arrested for beating the 12-year-old son of a girlfriend and reportedly had IRS issues; and Strather, among other things, had previously been convicted of bribery.

Malik
For nearly a decade, Mike Malik has sought Rep. Young's help advancing unorthodox plans the casino syndicator is bankrolling for an Indian Casino in Port Huron, Michigan; and other earmark matters involving the Bay Mills Indian Community. (Anchorage Daily News: Alaska's Young a leader in Michigan Indian casino fight).

In 2005-06, Malik and his partners, members of Detroit's Ilitch family, were among the top five donors to Young's political committee and they gave Young the highest grossing day of fundraising he had in that entire two year campaign cycle . Only those affiliated with Veco (Bill Allen, Rick Smith), JHT Holdings (Dennis Troha) and Carnival Corp. contributed more than Malik/Ilitch Family. Vecco execs have plead guilty to political corruption charges and Troha has already been indicted on similar charges he "reimbursed" family members who contributed to various candidates.

Mike Malik is developing a pattern of political campaign finance violations. His affiliate Barwest LLC (another of his partnerships with Detroit's Marian Ilitch) was found to have violated California's political reform laws on two counts for failing to disclose a $26,600 contribution it made to former Rep. Richard Pombo's County GOP Victory Committee. Malik used Barwest to front private aircraft travel for Rep. Young.

Malik is the subject of an ongoing investigation by California's Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) because he denied making another $26,000+ in contributions to the committees of various California lawmakers in 2006 -- at the same time the previous FPPC investigation was concluding.

Strather & Dalgleish
Similarly, Herb Strather has bankrolled efforts to get approvals needed to build a large casino resort on Cape Cod in partnership with the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribe. Young sat as Chair, Vice Chair and then ranking member of the House Resources Committee which has oversight for Indian matters.

Strather put $4 million into a hidden fund that enabled his partner, former tribal chairman Glenn Marshall, to carry out a scheme of illegal campaign finance activity including reimbursements to other so-called "donors." Marshall and other such "donors" from the tribe contributed to Midnight Sun PAC on the same date Strather and Mary Ann Dalgleish, a Strather & Associates Vice President, contributed to the PAC. We will assume Strather knew better than to reimburse Dalgleish for her contribution.

Dalgleish was apparently one of 100+ "investors" Strather recruited to syndicate Atwater Entertainment Associates LLC in the mid-1990s although Dalgleish had a personal history of financial hardship. AEA is the entity Strather syndicated to bankroll the legalization of gaming in Detroit and start MotorCity Casino. Dalgleish may also have been an investor in AtMashpee LLC, the syndication Strather organized to bankroll the Mashpee Wampanoag casino plans.

Aronoff
Appearing predictably on the PAC list three times -- and of all things, at the center of the list -- is Daniel Aronoff, perhaps so far the most publicly notorious donor on this list. (Note that the entry for Aronoff's most recent contribution has his last name misspelled as Aaronoff -- error or intention?).

Aronoff owns land in Florida and is the Michigan-based real estate developer at the center of the scandal and investigation into a $10 million earmark advanced by Rep. Young that was designated for improvements to the Coconut Road interchange off Florida's I-75. The project would have significant value to Aronoff who was a prodigious fundraiser for Young.

Aronoff, Malik and Strather have similar patterns of interaction with Young and have been significant bundlers/fundraisers for Young's various political committees, GOP causes and closest allies (former Reps Richard Pombo, John Doolittle, etc.). They've flown Young around in private aircraft, organized fundraisers, hired the some of the same notorious lobbyists and in exchange, sought help from Rep. Young above and beyond the norm.

Wend
The fifth Michigan donor on the list is Dennis Wend, who is referred to as a government employee albeit the only government employee from Michigan to contribute to Midnight Sun PAC -- and contribute $3,000.

Wend is executive director of technology transfer at the United States Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center, located at the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command in Warren. He contributed to Midnight Sun PAC only after he was given the spotlight in 2004 & 2005 at Alaska's Clean Energy Symposium I & II.

General counsel organized Mashpee affiliates which Strather subsequently liens

In March 2007, Jason Q. Wilson, recognized as general counsel for Detroit casino syndicator and real estate developer Herbert J. Strather, organized both Jayco/Mashpee LLC (filed 3.05.07) and Wilson/Mashpee LLC (filed 3.02.07). Wilson named himself as Resident Agent for both limited liability companies and also listed the same address for both entities: 300 River Place, Suite 6600, Detroit, MI 48207. That’s the same registered address on file for Strather’s various business enterprises including Strather & Associates and AtMashpee, LLC.

Then, a little more than two months later, Herb Strather, acting as a secured party, proceeded to place separate UCC Liens filed 5.15.07 on those same two entities: Wilson/Mashpee LLC (Filing No. 2007077968-7) and Jayco/Mashpee LLC (Filing No. 2007077967-5). On 9.04.08 secured party Strather amended his UCC Lien against debtor Jayco/Mashpee LLC (Filing No. 2008138352-8).

You may also want to review these recent posts:

• Waterford Group affiliate placed a lien against AtMashpee LLC
• Reporter: Kerzner & Wolman have money troubles, Strather seeks new investors for Cape Cod Casino scheme
• Three-fourths of AtMashpee LLC investors were behind entity that morphed into MotorCity Casino
• Heirs of Chicago-based American Invsco founder helped bankroll casino ... are they at it again?
• Strather was seeking AtMashpee investors via GoBigNetwork.com

Michigan Senator listed as "investor" in gambling casino syndication fund

It appears that Michigan State Senator Buzz Thomas (aka Samuel Thomas III) was apparently an investor in Atwater Entertainment Associates LLC (AEA), one of the founding interests – along with Marian Ilitch’s partners and Las Vegas-based Mandalay Resort Group (Circus Circus) – in Detroit’s MotorCity Casino.

Detroiters Herb Strather and Nellie Varner syndicated interests in AEA starting in 1995 in order to raise the capital they needed to push for the legalization of commercial gaming in Michigan (Proposal E – 1996) and lay the foundations for Detroit’s MotorCity Casino. Neither Strather or Varner were able to qualify for Michigan gaming licenses. Thomas, who was born in 1969 (1.28.69), would have been between 25 and 30 years old at the time he originally "invested" in the Atwater venture (AEA).

Thomas was first elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 1996 and served from 1997 – 2002. He’s represented Michigan’s 4th State Senate District (Detroit proper) since 2003.

In 2003, he introduced Senate Bill 0904 intended to limit the State Lottery’s use of casino-like games. Rather, in 2004, Detroit’s commercial casino interests promoted and passed a statewide ballot measure, Proposal 1, which requires a statewide vote in order to establish any new state lottery games utilizing "table games" or "player operated mechanical or electronic devices." According to the Michigan Campaign Finance Network (mcfn.org), Marian Ilitch, representing MotorCity Casino, contributed $200.000 to support passage of Proposal 1 – at the time she was reportedly that casino’s largest individual shareholder.

Ilitch reportedly bought out the interests of AEA syndicators in 2005 when she acquired majority control in MotorCity Casino from Mandalay Resort Group/MGM Mirage. (MichiganDaily.com: Ilitch Outbids Partners for MotorCity Casino)

According to a Web site set up for AEA investors to enable class-action lawsuits, Atwater Entertainment Associates LLC included entities known as Bay Ventures and BV Atwater. Strather’s wife Vivian Carpenter has served as Resident Agent for all three affiliates.

According to Crain’s Detroit, three-quarters of Atwater “investors” have also “invested” in AtMashpee LLC, another entity Strather syndicated to raise capitol need to bankroll a Cape Cod casino resort plan with the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian tribe of Massachusetts. Strather has also organized AtMashpee Notes LLC.

That tribe’s former chairman, Glenn Marshall, was under federal investigation and has agreed to plea guilty to federal campaign contribution violations and charges of fraud. Various Atwater/AtMashpee investors were identified blindly in the indicment documents. AtMashpee enabled Marshall's wrong doing by dumping $4 million into a hidden fund.

It's not clear whether Sen. Thomas was one of those Atwater investors who also helped to syndicate AtMashpee LLC.

According to a bio presented on Thomas' Web site, he has been:

Called “A Rising Star” by both the Detroit News and Hotline, one of Michigan’s five “Key Technology Leaders” by the Detroit Free Press, an “Under-40 Political ‘Buzz’ Saw” by the Michigan Front Page, recognized as One Of Four Up-And-Coming Leaders by Savoy, a national magazine spotlighting young, dynamic African-Americans, and chosen “Most Dedicated Detroiter” and “Best Local Politician” by Real Detroit Magazine, State Senator Buzz Thomas (D-Detroit) is known not only as a political force but also as a dynamic legislative leader.

You may want to review these related posts:

• Using borrowed money, Ilitch made overnight millionaires out of her Atwater partners
• Heirs of Chicago-based American Invsco founder helped bankroll casino ... are they at it again?
• Politico paid to gather signatures on petitions may have also invested in AtMashpee LLC
• Did principals at Goddard Clausen political firm help syndicate AtMashpee LLC too?
• Who's Who guide to complaint filed against former Mashpee tribe chairman Glenn Marshall
• Detroiters Strather, Deitch provided $4 million fund that enabled wrongdoing by ex-tribal chairman
• A one-time partner of Marian Ilitch & Mike Malik, had previous bribery conviction; bankrolled current plan for Cape Cod casino

Mlive.com: Michigan state senator from Detroit injures knee in fight outside bar
Wikipedia: “Buzz” Thomas (Samuel “Buzz” Thomas III)
Official Web Site: Senator Buzz Thomas

Heirs of Chicago-based American Invsco founder helped bankroll casino ... are they at it again?

Three of Chicago-based Nicholas S. Gouletas’ daughters were among the original investors in
Atwater Entertainment Associates LLC (AEA), the entity that pushed to legalize gaming in Detroit during the mid-1990s and then eventually morphed into MotorCity Casino which opened its doors in 1999 with financing from, and under the management control of, Las Vegas-based Mandalay Resort Group (Circus Circus).

A Web site which lists the names of AEA investors includes the names of Andrea Desiree Gouletas (born Oct. 1969); Deanna Eileen Gouletas (born Oct. 1960) and Victoria Michelle Gouletas (born May 1974). They are three of Nicholas Gouletas’ six children.

AEA was formed in 1995 by Detroiter Herb Strather and a partner Nellie Varner to syndicate financial interest and raise capital needed to advance their local casino plans. At that time, the Gouletas sisters’ ages would have ranged from about 21 – 35 years old.

Crain's Detroit indicates that many AEA investors were also investors in AtMashpee, LLC, another casino syndication organized by Strather to raise the money he needed to bankroll the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian tribe's effort win federal recognition and build a casino resort on Cape Cod. That tribe’s former chairman has been under federal investigation and has agreed to plea guilty to federal campaign contribution violations and charges of fraud. AtMashpee enabled his wrong doing by dumping $4 million into a hidden fund.

It’s not clear if the Gouletas family is helping to bankroll that plan for a large scale Massachusetts casino resort.




As owners of American Invsco, the Gouletas family carries one of the most highly recognizable names in Chicago real estate. Siblings Nicholas S. "Nick" Gouletas, Evangeline “Engie” Gouletas and Vincent Goulet (he changed his last name) established American Invsco four decades ago (1969).

Today, the privately held real estate conglomerate is one of the leading developers of condominiums in the U.S. Nicholas is chairman and CEO of American Invsco and his son Steven is president. The Gouletas were pioneers in the business of condo conversions and the development of luxury hi-rise residential buildings. It is reported that American Invsco has developed and marketed over 45,000 condominiums in more than 40 cities across the U.S. with property values in excess of $4 billion.

In 1981, while attending Ronald Reagan’s 1st Inauguration, Engie Gouletas met then-New York Governor Hugh L. Carey, a widower; and they were married less than four months later. In 1998, she left American Invsco and formed Skyline Equities Realty LLC in part because of a long running feud with her brother Nicholas.

As one of the largest condo developers in the U.S., American Invsco and its affiliates haven’t been without controversy throughout the years.

Most recently, the Las Vegas Review Journal has reported on a class-action lawsuit being brought by those who purchased units in an American Invsco project known as The Meridian, located at 250 E. Flamingo Road, just one block from the famed Las Vegas Strip.

Curiously, a 10.17.08 Review Journal article indicates that Meridian Private Residence CH LLC, a so-called “affiliate" of an unrevealed Detroit-based venture capital fund, had been quietly bankrolling the start-up of American Invsco’s Meridian property.

Strather was seeking AtMashpee investors via GoBigNetwork.com

GoBigNetwork.com features a "member profile" for Herb Strather who reports he's looking for investors seeking to fund a Detroit-based start-up called AtMashpee.

Here's how the opportunity was described in Strather's GoBigNetwork.com profile:

AtMashpee’s purpose has been to assist the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribe by funding its efforts to become federally recognized which was successful last year and to meet federal and state legal requirements to develop and operate a Class III Indian gaming casino in the vicinity of Middleboro, MA. AtMashpee entered into a consulting and development agreement with the Tribe to support it in the development and operation of the Casino. Casino is expected to open within next 36 months.

According to a 10.31.05 brief written by Robert Ankeny and published in Crain's Detroit Business: AtMashpee LLC included $12 million syndicated through more than 200 investors.

About 150 of AtMashpee's investors are former Atwater Entertainment Associates (AEA) "investors."

Ankeny suggests that the name "AtMashpee," is a blend of "Mashpee," as in Mashpee Wampanoag Indian tribe, and Herb Strather’s "Atwater" affiliate. AEA, organized in the mid-1990s, helped to organize Detroit Entertainment LLC which does business as Detroit's MotorCity Casino.

Politico paid to gather signatures on petitions may have also invested in AtMashpee LLC

Lee Albright was an investor in Atwater Entertainment Associates LLC (Atwater) according to a web site seeking to alert former Atwater partners to possible class-action claims involving the entity's former manager. Detroiter Herb Strather originally syndicated interest in Atwater as a way to raise capital needed to promote gambling in Detroit and then establish MotorCity Casino.

AtMashpee LLC, another Strather-created Detroit-based casino syndication in which a large majority of Atwater's members are reported to have also been investors, is suddenly at the center of a Jack Abramoff-related scandal making headlines this week.

Glenn Marshall, former chairman of Massachusetts's Mashpee Wampanoag tribe and a Strather (AtMashpee) partner, admits he is guilty of all criminal activity outlined in a Department of Justice (DOJ) complaint filed this week. Marshall has also agreed to cooperate in ongoing DOJ investigations which could include AtMashpee and its investors.

It is not clear yet if Albright is one of the Atwater investors who also put money into AtMashpee LLC.

Albright is the president of National Petition Management (NPM), perhaps the leading U.S. firm paid to collect signatures on political petitions intended to qualify measures (initiatives, referenda, propositions, proposals, etc.) for the ballot. NPM has offices in Michigan and Northern California. At one time NPM's was incorporated in Michigan.

The Daily Kos reports that from 1992-2006, NPM successfully qualifed 75 measures to be on ballots in 15 states. That list included qualifying two Michigan gambling measures: (1) allowed three commercial casinos to be opened in Detroit; and then (2) virtually protects those Detroit casinos from the threat of any future gaming competition in the state. Specifically:

1996 - Michigan First! Proposal E - gambling in Detroit (organized by Atwater investors Herb Strather and Mary Ann Dalgleish, and Dimitrios Papas, founder of Monroe Partners LLC - Greektown Casino; Strather and Papas were later disqualified from receiving Michigan gambling licenses and forced to cash-in their respective casino interests before the gambling halls opened; voters statewide narrowly approved Proposal E which provided for three commercial gaming establishments in Detroit).

2004 - Let Voters Decide Yes on Proposal 1 (bankrolled by Detroit's three established commercial casino interests and Michigan Indian tribes with gaming interests which included MGM Grand Detroit, Marian Ilitch owner of MotorCity Casino, Kewadin Greektown Casino, Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, Little River Band of Ottawa Indians; voters approved Proposal 1which now requires a statewide vote to approve any other new/expanded gaming ventures).

Strather began working with the Mashpee tribe in 2000 and reportedly dumped some $15 million into efforts to get the Mashpee tribe federally recognized and then build a tribal casino on Cape Cod. In exchange for bankrolling the Recognition effort and casino plans, Strather's group was promised 6-6.5% of the casino's annual gaming revenues over 20 years -- a deal some have valued at more than $1.2 billion.

Strather (AtMashpee) funnelled $4 million from investors into a hidden account enabling Marshall's criminal activity.

Did principals at Goddard Clausen political firm help syndicate AtMashpee LLC too?

The Washington D.C.-based chairman of the International Association of Political Consultants (IAPC), Ben Goddard, and his Sacramento-based business partner, Rick Clausen, were among 100+ investors who helped Herb Strather originally syndicate Detroit-based Atwater Entertainment Associates LLC (AEA). It has been reported by Crain's Detroit that AEA investors made up 75% (150 investors) of those who also helped Strather syndicate AtMashpee LLC, another casino investment opportunity. Note that the name "AtMashpee" reflects such a marriage between Atwater and the Mashpee Wampanoag.

A complaint filed by Department of Justice (DOJ) officials in U.S. District Court this week indicates Strather (AtMashpee LLC) dumped $4 million into a hidden account which enabled former Mashpee Wampanoag tribal chairman Glenn A. Marshall to engage in various fraudulent activities including a scheme that used convicted former lobbyist Jack Abramoff and others to funnel political contributions to key Members of Congress; all this was associated with efforts to win Federal Recognition of the tribe so they could build a Cape Cod casino that would reward Strather (AtMashpee) with 6-6.5% of annual gaming revenues over 20 years -- a jackpot valued by some at $1.2 billion.

Marshall agreed to plea guilty of all charges and will cooperate with ongoing DOJ investigations. His attorney, Robert Craven, told the Boston Globe, "Glenn didn't dream up the scheme himself. He was getting bad advice."

A Web site set up to inform AEA investors about possible class action claims lists Benjamin Goddard and Richard C. Clausen as investors. The pair are partners in the well-known political/PR firm Goddard Clausen.

Strather formed AEA originally to raise the capital needed to bankroll a 1996 campaign legalizing gambling in Detroit. Subsquently, AEA joined a partnership that included Las Vegas-based Circus Circus (Mandalay Resort Group) and established Detroit's MotorCity Casino.

How did Goddard and Clausen end up investing in Atwater Entertainment Associates? Did Goddard and Clausen also help Strather syndicate AtMashpee LLC too? And in doing so bankroll the tribal chairman's illegal activity? Were they also among those Marshall's attorney says gave him bad advice and political counsel?

The Goddard Clausen firm rose to prominence during the 1990s after Blue Cross paid the firm $2 million to develop the landmark "Harry & Louise" ad campaign, credited with killing President Bill Clinton's plan for universal health care. Goddard is a founder of the CATO Institute and a regular columnist for The Hill, a Washington D.C. news publication read by Capitol Hill insiders. In recent years, Goddard Clausen was a division of the international PR firm Porter Novelli (See Goddard Profile: Washington Post)

Who's Who guide to complaint filed against former Mashpee tribe chairman Glenn Marshall

Who's Who guide to the five count complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney in U.S. District Court and alleging criminal wrongdoing by former Mashpee Wampanoag tribal chairman Glenn A. Marshall including allegations of federal campaign finance violations, wire transfer fraud, tax fraud, embezzling $380,000 to pay personal expenses and fraudulently accepting payments from the Social Security Administration.

Investor A - Herb Strather; Detroit-based casino syndicator; founding member of AtMashpee LLC (see docs); has acknowledged to reporters that he is "Investor A." Herbert J. Strather is Resident Agent of AtMashpee Notes LLC, an enterprise established one year ago (12.08.07) when Strather's corporate counsel Jason Q. Wilson filed articles of organization for the LLC.

Laurence B. Deitch, an attorney at Bodman LLP, is Resident Agent and manager of AtMashpee LLC. Deitch and Strather, who lead the efforts to legalize commercial gambling in Detroit, were original partners in Atwater Entertainment Associates LLC which eventually morphed into Detroit's MotorCity Casino (a d/b/a for Detroit Entertainment LLC). Both Strather and Deitch opted to sell their interests in MotorCity Casino before it opened its doors -- Strather because he reportedly feared the Michigan Gaming Control Board might find him ineligible for a license and Deitch, a University of Michigan Regent, because reportedly he anticipated a future constantly questionning conflicts of interest.

Investor B - Floyd Gallegos; resident of Battle Creek, MI; an MIT-educated Yaqui Indian who helps tribes obtain grants and other assistance; an acquaintance of Strather's; reportedly investor in AtMashpee LLC.

Political Action Committee A - RICH PAC (Pombo's leadership PAC)

Member of Congress A - Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA)

Member of Congress B - former Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA); then chair, House Natural Resources Committee

Member of Congress C - Rep. William Delahunt (D-MA)

Political Consultant A - Stephen Graham

Three-fourths of AtMashpee LLC investors were behind entity that morphed into MotorCity Casino

Detroit-based AtMashpee LLC bankrolled and directed political and lobbying activities that won Federal Recognition for the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe of Massachusetts and laid the ground work for a tribal casino resort planned for Cape Cod.

According to a 10.31.05 brief written by Robert Ankeny and published in Crain's Detroit Business:

AtMashpee LLC included $12 million syndicated through more than 200 investors.

About 150 of AtMashpee's investors are former Atwater Associates partners. The name AtMashpee, is a blend of Mashpee, as in Mashpee Wampanoag Indian tribe, and Herb Strather’s Atwater Entertainment Associates, organizers of what eventually became Detroit Entertainment LLC doing business as Detroit's MotorCity Casino)

AtMashpee was founded in 2000 by Herb Strather. Fellow Atwater partner and University of Michigan Regent Laurence Deitch is Resident Agent for the Strather managed limited liability company.

Another former Atwater investor, J. Ronald Slavik (J&J Slavik, Inc.), has strong ties to the Mashpee effort. He partnered with South African Sol Kerzner and Len Wolman on the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut. Kezner and Wolman have assumed financing and control of any future Mashpee project.

Strather formed what appears to be a related entity, AtMashpee Notes LLC, almost one year ago on 12.18.07. Jason Q. Wilson, Strather's corporate counsel, filed the documents on Strather's behalf.

See List: Atwater Entertainment Associates Investors

Detroiters Strather, Deitch provided $4 million fund that enabled wrongdoing by ex-tribal chairman

Detroit casino syndicators Herb Strather and Laurence Deitch provided $4 million fund that enabled wrongdoing by former Indian tribe chairman.

According to details released by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), a Michigan-based casino syndicate controlled by Strather and Deitch dumped $4 million into a dormant tribal enterprise enabling their partner, then the chairman of a Massachusetts Indian tribe, to commit wire fraud and carry out schemes that violated federal campaign finance laws.

All this and more is outlined in the DOJ release and in charges filed in U.S. District Court against former Mashpee Wampanoag tribal chairman Glenn A. Marshall who has admitted wrongdoing and plead guilty on all charges in order to realize reduced sentencing. Marshall also agreed to cooperate in other related investigations.

Marshall’s attorney Robert Craven told the Boston Globe, "Glenn didn't dream up the scheme himself. He was getting bad advice."

Strather formed AtMashpee LLC in 2000 to provide funding and direct legal and lobbying activity necessary to earn federal recognition for the Mashpee Tribe; ultimately paving the way to build a large casino resort on Cape Cod that was to rival Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun. In exchange for bankrolling the plans, AtMashpee LLC and Strather would get 6 to 6.5% of casino revenues over a 20 year period – a deal valued by some to have been worth up to $1.2 billion.

According to the Boston Globe, Marshall was elected Mashpee chairman shortly after Strather became involved with the tribe. And in 2005 when Marshall’s leadership was challenged, Strather took measures to ensure Marshall would be re-elected as chairman.

Strather the largest investor in AtMashpee, is noted as “Investor A” in court documents. He syndicated interest in the limited liability company with 200 other investors – perhaps some of the same individuals who invested alongside Strather and Deitch in the venture (Atwater Entertainment Associates) that eventually became Detroit’s MotorCity Casino.

It is worth noting that according to documents filed with the Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth, Laurence B. Deitch, an attorney who is also a University of Michigan Regent, has been the Resident Agent for AtMashpee since 2001. While Strather has confirmed he is “Investor A” it is not clear if Deitch is the party noted in court documents as “Investor B,” a resident of Michigan and a fellow investor in AtMashpee LLC.

Another former Atwater investor and resident of Michigan, J. Ronald Slavik, is ties to the Mashpee casino scheme as well. Slavik was one of the original partners including Sol Kerzner and Len Wolman in Trading Cove Associates, which developed and managed the Mohegan Sun casino resort in Connecticut. Kerzner and Wolman have taken over controlling interest in the proposed Mashpee Casino. It's also possible Slavik is "Investor B."

From 2003-2007, AtMashpee pumped $4 million into a secret fund under the dormant Mashpee Fisherman’s Association. Those funds were used in part to pay lobbyists and political consultants. At one point, they retained the now disgraced former D.C. lobbyist Jack Abramoff to represent their interests and engaged him in their political contributions scheme. The tribe did receive federal recognition in early 2007 and has been pursuing controversial plans to develop a large casino resort in Middleborough, MA.

In addition to wire fraud and laundering campaign contributions, Strather gave Marshall $380,000 which he used to pay for personal expenses: groceries, jewelry, tuition payments for his daughter, vacations and his Countrywide mortgage. Strather also made other monthly payments to Marshall who failed to disclose the gifts and payments to the IRS and Social Security Administration.

DOJ Announcement
Complaint filed in U.S. District Court
Plea Agreement

Associated Press: Ex-tribal head in Mass. to plead guilty to fraud
Boston Herald: Ex-Mashpee Wampanoag chairman charged, tied to Abramoff
Cape Cod Times: Mashpee Wampanoag, Investors manipulate Cape tribe, Secretive club holding casino cards